RUSTON – The Louisiana Tech men's basketball team returns home this weekend to face UTSA in a pair of games inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court.
 
The first matchup comes Friday at 6:30 p.m. followed by a 6 p.m. tipoff on Saturday between the Bulldogs and Roadrunners.  Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Lyn Rollins and Chris Mycoskie calling the action.  Fans can also listen to Dave Nitz and Jack Thigpen call the game through the LA Tech Sports Network.
 
LA Tech (9-4, 2-2 C-USA) is coming off a road split with WKU, dropping a hard-fought game 66-64 on Friday but bouncing back to take the win on Saturday by a final score of 63-58. 
 
Defense and bench scoring were prevalent in both games.  The Bulldogs held the Hilltoppers to 35.7 and 35.2 percent shooting in the two contests.  The team currently ranks second in C-USA in field goal percentage defense, allowing just 40.3 percent shooting.    
 
And the bench production was key, outscoring WKU, 53-14, in that category.  Among the bench players who shined were Isaiah Crawford who scored a team-high 14 points on Friday and then followed that up with an all-around game where he registered eight points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.  He currently ranks second on the team in scoring at 10.5 points per game. 
 
There was also Andrew Gordon who arguably played his best basketball as a Bulldog.  The forward came off the bench and averaged 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, shooting 12-of-14 from the field versus the Hilltoppers.  In game one, he registered his first career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.
 
So far this season, the bench is averaging 28.5 points per game which is the second most in program history.  They have outscored the opponents bench 11 times (out of 13) this season.
 
As for the starters, Amorie Archibald poured in a game-high 14 points in game two and in the process, became the 43rd member of the 1,000-point club at LA Tech. 
 
UTSA (5-6, 1-3 C-USA) will be the first West Division opponent for LA Tech this conference season.  The Roadrunners snapped a three-game losing skid this past Saturday, defeating North Texas by a score of 77-69 in San Antonio. 
 
The Roadrunners are one of the top rebounding teams in the country.  They rank first in the league in rebounds per game (40.36) and second in offensive rebounds per game (13.36).  Both marks also rank in the top 50 in the nation.
 
Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace are still putting up a lot of points for UTSA.  The guard duo have combined to score nearly 4,000 career points.  Jackson is averaging 18.7 points while Wallace is averaging 13.4 points as the team's top two scorers. 
 
LA Tech leads the all-time series, 12-6.  However, the Roadrunners have had the upper hand as of late, winning four of the last six meetings. 
 
Fans can follow Bulldog Basketball on Twitter (@LATechHoops), Instagram (@LATechHoops) and Facebook (LATechMBB) for live in-game updates.